


Klance One-Shot

by PennAnnwn



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, I can't help it, Lance is so easy to write, Literally just a one-shot to make sure I'm not stupid rusty, Literally just self indulent fluff, M/M, Team self-loathing, klance, lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 09:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10738626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennAnnwn/pseuds/PennAnnwn
Summary: So this is really just a quick little one-shot to see how rusty I was at writing.I apologize for the short length, but I just had to get self indulgent fluff out of my system and I hate myself lol.





	Klance One-Shot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



Lance fired another shot at the target, letting the kick of his gun reverberate through his body.

_ This is my fault,  _ He thought, lining his sight to take another shot. 

_ I’d probably do better if I could put my face on this thing,  _ he thought as he squinted bitterly at the target, wondering if perhaps among all of this advanced alien technology he could find something resembling a printer. Taking a deep breath, he fired again, this time not quite as concentrated but still hitting the target directly in the chest. 

Something tugged in his chest, a feeling that was as intangible as it was suffocating. There was really only one thing he could think of comparing it to.

One time, what had seemed like an entire lifetime ago, Lance had been swimming in the Ocean. Now that he thought back, he couldn’t quite remember where, but he remembered being on vacation with his family. 

Another pull, though this one he was painfully more familiar with. 

He had waded out, despite his mother telling him not to, enough that his feet could no longer reach the ocean floor. He had been enjoying himself, alternating between swimming in circles, as children do, and floating on his back, gazing up at the bright blue sky while awash with wonder and content. He hadn’t paid attention to the time, and was beginning to grow tired. As he looked up at the shore, he realized that his family couldn’t hear him as he called out. In a fit of panic, and not being the most skilled swimmer at the time, he had nearly drowned. 

_ All because I was a dumbass,  _ He thought, gritting his teeth as he took another shot. 

Luckily, his sister had been a better swimmer than he could have ever been and jumped in after noticing his panicked flailing.

There were far more things he hated himself for, now that he was an adult, sure. But that feeling of suffocating, of knowing it was his fault…

That he never seemed to shake. 

Lance fired again, the bullet going through where he imagined one of his eyes would be.

_ Always letting everyone down, _

Another shot.

_ Making things harder on everyone, _

Another shot.

_ Not having anything to offer the team, _

Another shot.

_ Stupid,  _

Shot.

_ Useless, _

Shot.

_ Worthless, _

Shot.

Lance heaved a breath, shocked by how difficult it was. He hadn’t realized that he had started crying.

_ Great, and I’m over-emotional, to boot,  _ He wiped at his face furiously, feeling a dull pain in his right arm as he let it fall, gun still in hand and safety be damned. 

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you killed it, Lance.” A smug voice quipped from above. Lance looked up at the balcony that overlooked the training room in abject horror, feeling his heart completely stop.

Even from the slight distance, he could tell Keith was smirking. Lance only frowned in response.

_ Don’t come down here, Don’t come down here, Don’t come down here- _

Keith frowned, usually Lance had some sort of sarcastic quip whenever he spoke. It was their... _ thing,  _ he supposed. But Lance stood there, wiping at his face before picking the gun back up, firing a haphazard shot at the dummy.

He knew he shouldn’t feel so concerned, that Lance could take care of himself, but something drove him down to the training field. He wasn’t worried, he told himself, he just needed to make sure Lance was...okay.

Lance didn’t turn around once Keith walked out towards him, “What?”

Lance had said the word more like it was a statement than a question, causing Keith to jostle.

“The threat of rogue targets has been abated, bud. I think you should...take a break?” Keith said, awkwardly shuffling his feet. He didn’t like this version of Lance, he realized quickly. 

Lance huffed, “I guess you’re the leader now, so I should probably do what you say, right?”

Keith couldn’t stop himself from flinching, the sharp and angry tone was so very much unlike his Lance. Wait,  _ his  _ Lance? He shook the thought away, trying desperately not to overanalyze it.

“You don’t have to do a damned thing I say, Jackass,” Keith frowned, “But I think you might be pushing yourself a bit-”

Lance heaved a sigh, dropping his arms, “I’m fine.” He spat. 

_ Do not cry right now, stupid,  _ Lance spat at himself,  _ Keith is the last person you need to cry around.  _

Lance couldn’t handle having to forget another “bonding moment”, especially since he at least had blunt trauma to blame the last time. He wasn’t going to do this, not with Keith.

Keith struggled with what to do, gingerly he reached out to take the gun from Lance. He had expected things to go very bad, very quickly. But much to his absolute shock, Lance let the gun slip from his grasp, avoiding Keith’s eyes as he took it and walked it back over to it’s shelf. 

Lance felt nothing but a dull ache in his head and a suffocating hollowness in his chest. He appreciated Keith’s lack of words, for once. Usually he liked to get the guy riled up and argumentative, but in this particular moment he realized he may be more fond of the other boy’s silence far more than he cared to admit. It was at the moment Keith walked back towards him that he noticed the t-shirt and sweatpants.

_ Shit, I’ve probably been keeping the whole ship awake with the noise... _ Lance realized, internally kicking himself a bit harder. 

“Why aren’t you wearing any protection?” Keith said with a frown, dark eyes fixated on the bit of arm where the gun had been nestled, and how it poked out from Lance’s grey shirt. 

Lance just shrugged, looking away.

A moment of silence passed between them and Lance prayed that the moment was over. Thanks Keith for the help, but I can take it from here- he’d say, and then of course go to his room for eight hours of sleepless self-loathing and then wash, rinse, repeat.

“Lance,” Keith started, frowning as he tried to figure out what to say, “You’re...not okay….are you?”

Lance smiled, something that at this point in the evening felt so foreign on his face, but he couldn’t help it, “If I’m obvious enough that  _ you  _ notice I must be really rough off, huh?”

Maybe if he could just pull himself together and deflect enough, Keith would roll with it and walk away. That’s what Lance hoped for anyhow. If this was Shiro he wouldn’t be able to bullshit like that. Shiro was attuned to the emotional well-being of all of the paladins, but Lance was a special case. Lance worried that he may have become a bit too dependent on the older boy, because without Shiro to talk to, he was concerned he may actually lose himself to his own self hatred. 

Keith, on the other hand, was struggling with this newfound urge to comfort Lance. Well, if he was being completely honest it wasn’t exactly  _ new.  _ But now wasn’t the time to have this conversation with himself, especially not standing directly in front of the source of conflict. 

“Do you want to talk...about it?” Keith asked cautiously, weighing his words delicately.

Lance sighed, “Do  _ you? _ ”

“Look, I’m attempting to help, okay?” Keith said, the frustration straining his voice, “I don’t know what I did to make you hate me so much, but if you just want me to leave I can go grab Hunk or someone else.”

Lance felt like shit now, he could see that Keith was, alarmingly,  _ trying _ . He was so torn between wanting to collapse in his arms and just... _ cry  _ for a moment. Allow himself a pity party in the arms of a friend. They  _ were  _ friends, right? And torn between wanting to tell Keith to just...fuck off. But the latter was so unjustified Lance didn’t give it a second thought. He was angry at himself, and he had absolutely no reason to take it out on Keith. 

Keith turned to leave but Lance caught his wrist, holding it only long enough to stop him but dropping it the moment he made eye contact with the other boy. 

“Sorry.” Lance mumbled, racking his brain for something else to say, something that wasn’t  _ stupid. _

“I’m usually the one lashing out, so I get it.” Keith said simply, his eyes still fixed on Lance’s face, “I know I’m not Shiro, so I can’t...like...give advice, or whatever. But I can listen.”

_ God Damn  _ it, did Lance want to cry, but he steeled himself, “I...thanks.”

Keith shrugged awkwardly, very unsure of what to do around this version of Lance. Sad Lance was a different beast than Angry Lance, he almost preferred the latter. At least he could punch the latter.

Keith nodded towards the benches and Lance followed wordlessly, sitting down before Keith in a very awkward, swift motion to avoid both eye and body contact.

“To...To be clear, I don’t...hate you.” Lance said with a sniffle, wiping his face with the back of his hand.  _ Shit, I look pathetic. A snotty, sad mess.  _

Keith blinked dramatically, “Well, that’s news.”

Lance glared, frowning to the point it went from ugly and looped back to being semi-adorable somehow, at least it was to Keith. 

“I take that back.” Lance said with a frown as Keith took a seat on the bench, about a foot away from him, clearly picking up on Lance’s avoidance.

_ He’s better with people than he gives himself credit for,  _ Lance thought before continuing, “I don’t hate you, Keith.”

“Yeah,” Keith said with a half-smile, “You mentioned that.”

“I’m trying to finish what I was gonna say,” Lance said with a hiss, “Jackass.”

Keith sighed, “Sorry, go on...take your time, though.” He had added that last bit hastily. He had remembered Shiro saying it once or twice to Lance before, remembered Shiro mentioning that Lance takes a while to actually open up, which Keith only remembered because he thought it was odd. Lance did nothing  _ but  _ talk, how the hell was he emotionally closed up? 

Keith was starting to understand that, now.

“I just…” Lance continued, shuffling his hands in his lap, “Don’t want to like you.’

“Wow,” Keith said, dead-panned, “Thanks for that.”

“I don’t-” Lance started and then sighed, his shoulders slumping, “I just...don’t want you to think I hate you. That’s not what has me bothered though, not right now anyways.”

“Does what I think about you matter at any other point?” Keith asked. He had meant it jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit, but a part of him, a slightly louder part, was genuinely curious.

Lance looked over at him briefly, before looking back at his hands, fighting the heat that threatened to rise to his cheeks, “More than you know. “

Keith felt a stirring in his chest, ignoring it to the best of his ability and watching as Lance continued to twiddle with his thumbs, trying to gauge exactly how he should respond to that. Why did it matter? And more than he knew? He didn’t know anything so that could mean... _ anything _ .

“Anyways,” Lance said, clearing his throat, “That’s not...what I’m being all edgelord about right now.”

“Yeah,” Keith mused, hoping Lance didn’t hear the crack in his voice, “That’s usually my title.”

“Yeah, well it really shouldn’t be. You’re good at everything.” Lance said, his voice trailing off, “What’s it like to not hate yourself?”

“Lance,” Keith started but was cut short when the taller boy suddenly stood.

“Forget it, it’s fine. I actually feel better already.” Lance said quickly.  _ Shit, he’s going to think I’m a pathetic loser who can’t leave his own pity party. Which is entirely true.  _

Keith grabbed his wrist, yanking him back towards the bench, “No you don’t, now sit down.”

Oddly enough, Lance complied. Which made Keith all the more worried.

Lance tried to fight the emotions bubbling up in his chest, really, he did, “Why are you being so nice to me? I’m nothing but an asshole to you. I’m nothing but a stupid, useless, worthless,  _ fucking asshole. _ ”

“You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” Keith said, trying to ignore the pain in his chest.  _ He can’t think that, he can’t possibly think that when he’s so wonderful and kind and beautiful- _

Keith realized he hadn’t let go of Lance’s wrist, but he held onto it. Deciding the physical contact was probably helpful.

Yeah, that was why. 

“How could I not?” Lance asked, his voice breaking, “Shiro is gone and I could have stopped it, and Pidge is hurt, and I’m not good at  _ anything,  _ I have nothing to offer the team, no one actually likes me, I can’t even  _ talk  _ to you without pissing you off because I’m stupid and emotionally constipated, really...the list goes on, mullet.”

Lance was internally screaming, kicking himself and pleading with his mouth to just  _ stop talking. _

“I mean, let’s be honest here,” Lance continued, “Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, Coran,  _ you-  _ You guys all have something you’re good at, stuff you’re  _ great  _ at, what the fuck do I contribute? I’m just...a seventh wheel, Keith.”

Lance had tried so hard to play these things off nonchalantly, but he meant this. Every word of it.

Keith took in a shaky breath, shooting his hand up as if to silence Lance, “Please shut up.”

Lance felt his heart sink,  _ He must hate me so much right now. Whining about petty bullshit when Shiro is- _

Lance’s train of thought was stopped by Keith’s long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “I don’t even know where to start with this…”

Lance swallowed, stopped again before he could apologize.

“I mean….What the  _ fuck,  _ man?” Keith said, standing and walking over to Lance, “First of all, it’s  _ not  _ your fault...what happened with Shiro.”

“But I could have-” 

Keith grabbed Lance by the shoulders, perhaps a bit too harshly, “No.  _ Any  _ of us  _ could  _ have, but we didn’t. And it’s not anyone’s fault, especially yours.

“But-”

“Secondly-” Keith said, not letting Lance get a word in, “The  _ hell  _ there’s nothing you’re good at! I just watched you obliterate a shooting target and you were like, what? Only half paying attention? Less than that, you were at like..five percent attention? Your aim is impeccable.”

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but Keith was far from finished.

“And you’re...hilarious. Like shit, I hate admitting it but you really do help bring an air of brevity to the room. Like, and not just because you light it up just by being there but you are  _ genuinely  _ funny. Just...don’t _ act  _ like I admitted that though, it’ll ruin our dynamic and I, too, am emotionally stunted.”

“I light up the room?” Lance asked, feeling a bit lightheaded, “Dude, that’s so gay.”

“Deflect all you want, asshole. Doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.” Keith said, realizing that perhaps he was getting a bit too lost in his own personal feelings on the topic of Lance. And that his hands were still on the taller boy’s shoulders. 

He moved them quickly, darting them into his sweatpants pockets.

“I know Allura is like, the mom of the group or whatever, but you know what?” Keith said, turning his attention to the window beside them, wondering if perhaps he looked at the stars instead of this moron he wouldn’t keep verbalizing things that he had only recently begun to realize he felt himself, “You’re our...emotional center? I guess?”

“You’re right, you’re definitely no Shiro. I’m going to argue your pep talks are better.” Lance said dryly, but his voice had changed it’s tone dramatically. 

Lance wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be over.

But he also didn’t want it to end.

He missed talking to Shiro. His feelings were never quite so conflicting when they had talks about Lance and his wonderful issues with self esteem. Lance wondered if maybe it was the fact Shiro just naturally had a calming presence….or the fact he just had conflicting feelings when it came to Keith in general. 

Keith had frowned, but he was actually rather elated at Lance’s renewed attempts at deflecting. That meant that in some fucked up way he was actually  _ helping.  _ Lance was starting to sound more….well, like  _ his Lance.  _

Keith welcomed the phrasing this time around. 

“I know I don’t give the best advice, but I just...I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this, I guess.” Keith said, glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, I know. My constant false bravado and devastatingly good looks probably throw you off from the crippling self-loathing thing.” Lance said with a grin. He hated this, but he was actually feeling a bit better, even if he had managed to also successfully distance himself from Keith, who was probably scared out of his mind and definitely regretting his decision to attempt to help Lance.

“No,” Keith said sharply enough that it jostled Lance, “It’s that you don’t look at yourself and see what everyone else sees.”

Lance swallowed, looking out the window instead of at Keith and wondering if it wasn’t too late to toss himself out with the trash and into the cold, welcoming embrace of space.

“What  _ I  _ see.” Keith said a bit quieter.

Yep, definitely not too late to fling himself into outer space.

After a moment of silence and what both boys assumed was a visible cocoon of sweat around either of their bodies, Keith cleared his throat.

“Look, I know my opinion doesn’t mean much, and I know that some nice words from a... _ friend  _ don’t exactly cure self-esteem issues or anxiety or whatever, I do. But if you feel like this again maybe it’ll help to talk to someone who thinks the world of you. So like, literally anyone on the ship would do.”

Lance felt a tightness in his chest, oddly enough Keith was  _ really  _ good at this.

Or perhaps it was the insinuation that he meant the world to  _ Keith,  _ of all people.

“But I hope you talk to me.” Keith said. 

There it was again. That bizarre softness that his voice kept taking. It made Lance want to set himself on fire. What business did Keith have getting all sentimental like that? None, that’s what.

Lance couldn’t exactly stop himself, but what else was new, “Keith, I only pretended to hate you because I thought you were, like, ... _ stupid  _ cute.”

Keith looked over at Lance as though the boy’s words hadn’t registered.

Not...yet.

“ _ What?”  _ Keith asked, his voice hitched and his face the color of his jacket, “What...What the hell, Lance?”

“And I remember our bonding moment. You saved my ass, dude. And you looked so cool doing it.”

“Lance, what the fuck?” Keith strained, his voice somewhere between a whisper and a very confused whistle.

Lance only then realized what he was saying, his skin turning a bright and hot red now to match, “I-I just, you’re being really nice to me and I’m so  _ fucking obnoxious  _ to you and at first it was just because I didn’t want to like you, because you’re cute, and then your reactions were just too good, and then you just seemed so comfortable-”

Lance swallowed, “-a-and I just....I felt bad.”

Keith just stared, red faced and eyes widened.

“Sorry. I just...it’s a defense mechanism? If...If I keep people at a distance, especially the hot ones, I can’t, like, get rejected. So everyone wins.”

Keith looked away, the flush to his face unbearable, “Or you could just, hear me out here, let people  _ like you,  _ dumbass.”

Lance cleared his throat, fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, “...sorry.”

Keith ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah, well...if we’re attempting to embarrass one another I can play along.”

Keith was smirking now, something that both worried Lance and made his chest feel all...weird.

“You know what else you’re good at?” Keith asked, oddly genuine but not allowing Lance the time to respond, “You can’t tell me you don’t know you’re a good dancer.”

“I can, because I’m not.” Lance said flatly.

“That’s a joke, right?” Keith asked, arching an eyebrow, “You’ve  _ got  _ to be kidding. Like, you’re clearly aware of the effects your hips have on people or you wouldn’t use them like you do.”

Lance snorted, attempting not to laugh, “What?”

“Like, and I’m not even speaking on behalf of those of us who find you attractive. Literally  _ anyone  _ would say that the way you move is downright hypnotic. Ask Hunk or Pidge, they won’t be biased.”

Lance could feel that his heart was either in overdrive or had stopped altogether. His mouth felt dry.

He didn’t. He felt like sweat and a heart attack.

“Y-You say that like you think I’m attractive.” Lance sputtered, walking towards the door. 

Keith followed behind, but struggled to keep pace,  _ damn those long ass legs,  _ “Well, yeah. I said as much.” 

Keith would have been embarrassed if he wasn’t trying to embarrass Lance.

Lance stopped at the door, nearly causing Keith to run into him, “Okay, I get it. Self-esteem issues are cured because the great Keith Kogane thinks I’m  _ cute,  _ Ha ha, that’s just peachy. I’m going to bed.”

“You can’t seriously think I’m kidding, can you?” Keith asked, slightly offended but moreso confused.

“Well if you’re not, trust me, pal. You can do so much better.” Lance said, his hand hovering over the button that would open the door.

Lance stopped as he looked at how sad his words had made Keith. How had this conversation ended up here, exactly? Was it his fault? Probably. 

Keith didn’t widen the distance between them, instead stepping just a bit closer, “I wish you wouldn’t say that.”

Lance sighed, confused by the part of his brain that was telling him to try kissing the shorter boy in front of him.

“Will you be alright to get some rest?” Keith asked, dark eyes searching Lance’s like he’d developed some sort of bullshit detector in the last handful of minutes.

No, Lance realized, Keith had kind of always had that, hadn’t he?

“Yeah. I...I meant what I said when I said that you helped...earlier.” Lance said, realizing he had probably not actually complimented Keith sincerely  _ and  _ out loud. 

Keith frowned, “Yeah...well...I just...hate that you don’t see how great you are.”

Lance inhaled sharply as Keith leaned a bit closer.

“Selfish reasons and personal bias aside, I want you to know I think you’re great. Everyone on this ship cares about you.”

Lance fought at the sudden urge to cry welling in his eyes, “Thank you.” Was the only response he could muster.

Keith smiled, an oddly fond smile, before leaning up and kissing Lance ever so gently.

It was quick, and chaste, but it was definitely enough to render Lance completely speechless.

“I meant what I said, too.” Keith said, leaning into Lance as he reached around him to press the door’s open button, “But that’s a conversation for another time, I think.”

Lance watched as Keith walked out and down the hallway, hands in his pockets.

“Get some rest, jackass.” Keith called out.

Lance stood there for a moment before realizing the sudden spike in temperature was solely from his own face.

_ At least I feel better,  _ He thought blankly,  _ Poor Shiro is going to have to hear all about  _ that  _ when we get him back. _


End file.
